Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 7/22: Paul Revere and the Raiders, “Indian Reservation”
Donald Trump is impressive, in a twisted way: He manages to give voice to every moronic, bigoted opinion you’d hear from the drunk at the end of the bar, all without touching a drop. In most people, that kind of belligerent ignorance comes only after years of destroying brain cells with alcohol. Trump is that […]
Song of the Day 7/21: Connie Francis, “Stupid Cupid”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona She watched this year as she became a TikTok sensation. She was a pop sensation for the first time 67 years ago when she released “Who’s Sorry Now” on those little records that went around 45 times a minute and had big holes in the middle. There’s been a lot […]
Song of the Day 7/20: Coldplay, “Fix You”
If only every scandal was resolved this quickly. The Kiss Cam Canoodler – as a human with access to the internet, you surely know who I mean – has resigned his post as CEO of a tech company called Astronomer. I’ve seen a couple of plausible theories on why this couple’s accidental humiliation went viral. […]
Song of the Day 7/19: BJ Leiderman, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” theme
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Donald Trump has pointed his gun at the head of National Public Radio (and PBS) for months, and Congress has finally pulled the trigger for him. Stations around here have said they expect to scrape by without federal funding, but who knows? So it seems like a good time to […]
Song of the Day 7/18: Stevie Wonder, “I Wish”
Trump tried to bury the Epstein List controversy, and it almost worked. He made a few phone calls and every right-wing news source dropped all discussion of it. (Yesterday, while most of the media breathlessly reported the Wall Street Journal’s letter from Trump to Epstein, Fox played a segment on “Biden’s Greatest Gaffes.”) The conspiracy-hungry […]
Song of the Day 7/17: The Kinks, “Young Conservatives”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona A surprisingly rich Wilmington CPA named Robert L. Siegfried Jr. has donated $71.5 million to the University of Delaware’s business college so it can be more like Trump University. No, UD won’t start offering degrees online, but the money will support “rule of law,” “free enterprise” and “property rights,” he […]
Song of the Day 7/15: Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom, “Big Bottom”
Noted keyboardist and philosopher Viv Savage, best known for his stint with iconic rock band Spinal Tap and his credo, “Have a good time all the time,” supposedly died in 1984. He was visiting the grave of drummer Mick Shrimpton, who exploded on stage, when a methane buildup caused the grave to explode, according to […]
Song of the Day 7/14: Paul Henreid and the cast of “Casablanca,” “La Marseillaise”
This originally ran on Bastille Day five years ago, during the COVID summer. I’m re-running it because I think we need it even more today. It’s not just a great national anthem, it’s a great Nazi-fighting anthem. And Paul Henreid, forever to be remembered as “Casablanca” Nazi-fighter Victor Laszlo, was the right man to sing […]
Song of the Day 7/13: Rebekah Del Rio, “Llorando”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona There are many things his fans like about David Lynch, but two songs in Spanish by singer Rebekah Del Rio are standout moments. We learned this weekend that she died a few weeks ago at 57, and her moody version of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” in the movie “Mulholland Drive” and […]
Song of the Day 7/12: The Blackbyrds, “Rock Creek Park”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Donald Byrd was a highly regarded mainstream jazz musician, “one of the finest hard-bop trumpeters,” says the website AllMusic. He was also one of the great jazz mentors. There was the time, for instance, when he let a young Herbie Hancock pick his brain when he was crashing on Byrd’s […]
Song of the Day 7/11: The Fania All-Stars, “Mi Gente”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona There was time when Latinos in this country could celebrate a song of ethnic pride and not worry that ICE agents were eavesdropping in the shadows. A time when 41,000 people could fill Yankee Stadium to hear “Mi Gente” and other salsa tunes without being rounded up at the exits. […]
Song of the Day 7/10: The Clique, “Superman”
There’s a new Superman movie out, and MAGAts are reacting in character: They’re pissed off. They’re talking about boycotting the film because its director, James Gunn, pointed out that Kal-El was an illegal immigrant. At the movie’s premiere he told Variety, “Yes, Superman is an immigrant, and yes, the people that we support in this […]
Song of the Day 7/9: The New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, “Brandenburg”
H/t El Somnambulo The obituaries of composer Mark Snow that ran after he died last week all highlighted the most popular of his copious TV and movie music: The eerie, unsettling theme for the eerie, unsettling 1990s show “The X-Files.” That’s only fitting: The instrumental made him a one-hit wonder, at least in some countries. […]
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